Posts Tagged ‘Corridor’

Last week, we ran a review of Corridor, a movie that played at Fantastic Festin Austin, TX. It was a nifty, minimalist throw-back to Hitchcock, and the entire movie hinges on the performance of Emil Johnsen, who plays paranoid medical student Frank.

Without his convincing performance, the movie would not be as compelling. We had a chance to sit down with Emil for a one on one interview at Fantastic Fest to talk about the film, his role and what he’s up to next.

The Flickcast: When I came in from the airport for Fantastic Fest, I shared a shuttle with Jonah Storm (the director of Corridor). He said he had a project here, and I told him I would check it out. You never know how things are going to turn out, and I just saw the movie, and it was really good. Congratulations, very cool.

So, how did you come onto this project? Did you know the directors?

Emil Johnsen: Well, the thing is, yeah. I went to theater school at the theater academy in Sweden the same time that they were going to the film academy, so me and Jonah Lundberg actually started working together. I was in a short film that he made, then we started developing some other stuff together. When they got financing to make a feature I was already interested.

FC: Did you have any input on the story development, or was the story completely ready when they came to you?

EJ: I didn’t have so much input, no. I did have a lot of opinions about the script, and as far as I remember there were some things I wanted to change, and I think actually they did change some stuff.

We collaborated a lot. I got the script way ahead, and read it, and I read several drafts of it. I did, however, want there to be more of a romantic development between Lotte and Frank.

FC: It kind of starts going there…

EJ: It starts, but there’s one thing that is cut out, where Frank comes with a glass of milk, and I persuaded them to have something more romantic or sexual happen, but they cut that out.

Corridor, directed by Johan Lundborg and Johan Storm (Sweden), is a darkly humorous suspense-thriller, the likes of which would make Hitchcock proud. Frank (Emil Johnsen), a socially withdrawn medical student, goes about his daily routine with as little contact with people as he can manage – such as declining the invitations made by a classmate to study together and avoiding the other residents in his apartment building.

Frank is reluctantly roped into helping Lotte (Ylva Gallon), his persistently friendly (and moochy) upstairs neighbor with increasing frequency, much to his frustration. In spite of this, an uneasy friendship forms between the two after Frank notices signs of domestic abuse between Lotte and her boyfriend Micke (Peter Stormare, who is always awesome) and as things progress, they get increasingly more complicated.

Because much of the action takes place out of sight, Frank makes assumptions based on what can be overheard from his downstairs apartment and his conclusions and actions set up a chain of events that topple into calamity.

I was reminded a bit of Rear Window while watching it, though Frank – unlike Jimmy Stewarts’ proactive voyeur – desperately tries to avoid social interaction and involvement with the people living in his building. The use of sound in the film is hugely important, as Frank’s perception of Lotte’s relationship with Micke is informed almost entirely by what he overhears from his flat.

Right now everyone is buzzing about Comic-Con, but Fantastic Fest is right around the corner. The 2010 festival is scheduled for September 23-30 in Austin, Texas.

Fantastic Fest is a genre festival specializing in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and cult cinema. Of course several of us will be attending to bring you all noteworthy happenings, but until then, check out this killer (pun intended) early lineup just released.

Here are thirteen films announced today:

Bedevilled (2010)
Director: Cheol-soo Jang, South Korea, 115 minutes
If you beat, brutalize, dehumanize and torment a country girl for her entire life, take note: when she reaches the breaking point, you’d best hide the farm implements.

Corridor (2009)
Directors: Johan Lundborg & Johan Storm, Sweden, 80 min
Lonely medical student Frank is pleased with his flat, a quiet place to focus on his coming exams. But when he meets the girl upstairs, his peace and quiet, his sanity and his possibly even his life become jeopardized.

The Dead (2010)
Directors: Howard J. Ford and Jonathan Ford South Africa, 100 min
After his plane crashes in the South African bush, Rob Freeman (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) joins forces with Prince David Osei (a superstar actor in his native Ghana) to cross the vast desert by any means necessary. A daunting task under normal circumstances becomes particularly challenging after the zombie apocalypse.